It's Hard Being a Good Wife and Mother

Mo Dai had thought that her blind eyes would never be of any use again in this life. But it seemed fate had decided to give her a chance to see the light once more, arranging for her to transmigrate on the night of her twenty-eighth birthday. She really ought to thank fate. Thank it for making her open her eyes only to find herself hanging from a tree branch halfway down a cliff, then dropping freely a second later, landing sideways and slamming straight into the rocks. Thank it for sending her to a matriarchal world where women supported their families, and making her the “head wife” of a dirt-poor farming household with nothing but bare walls. Thank it for the shocking reality that this older woman, who had little romantic experience in her previous life, already had a husband and three children: one was three, another was two, and the third was still in her belly. Thank it for showing her just how complicated her relationships were. Her relatives were anything but close, she was on bad terms with the neighbors, and her husbands were either estranged from her, timid and cowardly, or simply looked down on her. A person needs something to live for, but the joy of being reborn was quickly shattered by the harsh reality of her circumstances. What was she living for? How was she supposed to live? When a soft, timid, sweet little voice like a kitten’s reached her ears, saying, “Mama,” she looked at the two children standing before her, skinny as sticks and visibly sickly. Her heart trembled. The core inside this body might have changed, but the bonds of family could not be erased. She had to admit that in that moment, she had accepted her fate. She could put her husbands aside for now. For the children’s sake, she had to do her best to live well. She had to support this poor family. She didn’t need great wealth, but at the very least, she had to feed the children until they were full and keep them healthy. Using what little wisdom and experience she had from her previous life, and occasionally making use of her troublesome supernatural ability, she kept a low profile and persevered, carried herself with dignity, worked the land, and diligently earned money to provide for the family. Watching the children gradually grow plump, and seeing her family’s brows relax more and more, filled her with satisfaction. She hoped their days would continue to pass so smoothly, but reality was as melodramatic as a soap opera. She had ignored fate’s longstanding fondness for romance, and the question of love she had tried to cast aside ever since transmigrating gradually began to surface.